Sometimes it's more than cooking a meal; it's a downright project.

Tomato Jam

So, tomato jam? Everyone needs this. It’s. It’s. I just don’t know how I’ve never done this before. It’s. Worth making. I got the inspiration from NY Times Cooking as I was looking around for ideas for all my CSA tomatoes. I already have more sauce than I can store, so…make this! You can find the original, mostly unchanged recipe here. There are some changes though, that I think make it better. Of course it’s all subjective. Make it towards your own tastes…if you like things really, really sweet, go with the original suggestion of 1 full cup of sugar! Of course, as they say, you can always add more but you can’t take it out. A half a cup was more than sweet enough for me, and also sweet enough to enhance the flavor of the 2 habaneros I added as well. Keep in mind this recipe has no pectin or preservatives, it’s really intended to be eaten soon. I seriously don’t think you’ll have any problem with that. Tip: it went PERFECTLY with crackers/baguette and a slice of cheese.

Ingredients:

1 ½pounds good ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

2tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1tablespoon fresh grated or mincedginger

1teaspoon ground cumin

¼teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛teaspoon ground cloves

1teaspoon salt

2 habaneros, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste (the sweet/spicy thing really works in this jam, so I’d say go for it unless you really hate spicy).

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.

Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.